Metal & Ironworking

Though metal and ironwork has been around for a long time - literally thousands of years - its use for decorative and ornamental purposes is relatively new. Metal work as a term can be used to apply to any process for the shaping of a metal, often using tools or machinery. Technically, a large foundry provides metal work services. Ironwork services are more specific, however. Ironwork services come in two flavours; wrought and cast, with material suppliers for both to be sourced at productpilot.com. Wrought iron is traditionally forged on an anvil by a blacksmith. Such metal work services historically produced tools and weapons, but in recent times these skills have been turned to decorative pursuits. The other kind of ironwork is that of cast. In modern times, cast iron is used for a huge range of things, from vehicle engine blocks to small components in furniture. Casting involves creating a mould – often made out of sand - and pouring metal that has been heated to melting point into the mould. Once the metal has cooled, the sand can be broken away to reveal the cast metal item.

While iron casting is increasingly production-line and factory based, wrought iron has found a vibrant market in artistic endeavours, such as ornamental gates and fences. The process of creating wrought iron is inherently more suited to more artistic products due to the fact that any it requires a blacksmith to use their hands and have an artistic vision for what they want to create. Automated machinery does exist for wrought iron, though it is typically used to create more plain products, such as gates with straight vertical bars. Both automated and hand wrought iron falls under the umbrella of metal work services. As a trader in this industry it pays to be well informed, productpilot.com allows access to all the latest supplier developments in this market.